Hey, guys, welcome back to the Twin Cities collective podcast. My name is Jenna Redfield, and I'm your host, we've had some really awesome episodes this month with some really awesome influencers. And a lot of you guys are, you know, not at that level, yet. A lot of people listening are just starting out and are just getting their business off the ground. And I always know that and always talked about that in the podcast that not everyone listening has everything figured out. And that's why they're listening. So somebody asked in our Facebook group about how do you like, get people to find out about your business. And I mean, that is what marketing is, is just, you know, telling people sharing what you do. And so I wrote a blog post, and I just thought of every single way that I could think of that is, you know, a way to get your business visible to an audience that maybe hasn't found you yet. And so, I really liked this post, because it's really, really, it just talks about each of the different platforms. And so I thought I would just walk through each platform today and kind of give a little bit more than what I wrote in the post, I really in the post just wrote, like a sentence or two about, okay, well, you know, use Facebook, and that's it, like I don't really go into more depth. So I wanted to just kind of walk through each of the different platforms, the different types of ways to get your business out some ideas and tips. So I hope you guys enjoy this episode. So the first section of this is social media and email. Now, obviously, if you've listened this podcast for a while, you know, we really focus on social media as a really great tool to get your business more visible market and find new audience. So the first one we're going to talk about is, obviously Instagram. Instagram is by far what I think is the best platform to be on in 2019. To promote a new business, why it's really easy to discover new businesses on there, it's really easy to get people to connect with you on a more deeper level, it's a great way to build local businesses and connections with other companies, you can also directly message people that way, not having to look up their email, just it's a really easy way to get yourself in front of people, we have so many different episodes about Instagram. So if you really want to dig deep, I'm not going to dig deep in this episode, specifically, because we have so many episodes about Instagram. And also a lot of our blog is all about Instagram. But if you guys are interested, and I know this is a plug, and I'm sorry, but I always struggle with plugs, I struggle with talking about myself. But we do have an online course. And the reason I talk about my online course is I put a lot of time and energy into it. And I think it's worth $35, which I think you get a lot more than you think in the course a lot more about branding a lot more about the things that I sort of talked about on the podcast, but I really, really tell you how to do it in the course and I show you examples. Also, if you want to actually work with me, we just hit 14,000 on Instagram. So I've been doing this for a while and I know kind of what what to do. I have an Instagram audit that you can get $400 and it's a one hour session, and I actually customize it to your business. And you can go to our website and click on Instagram, and you'll get the link to that. But it's just something that I feel like has helped a lot of people really just kind of get to the strategy part of Instagram. And I think it's something that will benefit you a lot. So if you want to check that out, if you want to focus on Instagram this year, which I think you should check out our course and our

Instagram audits. Another thing I also do, which I don't talk about a lot is photography, photography is a huge part about any platform you're on and social. So if you're ever interested in getting like headshots, lifestyle photos, that stuff I do also. Alright, end of plug. Alright, so the next platform is Facebook. Now Facebook is great for us in terms of our group, as well as events. I think events are a great way I think the the best way to promote events is through Facebook events because people can take their friends, I think Facebook is still used a lot by people, I think it's just changed over the years. I think people aren't liking as many pages, but yet, they're following companies still. So if you are a small business, and you do have kind of a small core group of people, those people can share your updates. You know, having people share your stuff, or talk about you or tag their friends, that is almost more of a social way to use Facebook than even just posting, I saw this thing on LinkedIn that said like Facebook, engagement rates are down to the lowest they've ever been. And I think it's because more people are paying for ads. But I also think people are just using Facebook differently than they used to. But I always recommend I was working with a client and she wanted to get rid of her Facebook page, I said, Are you kidding me? No, don't get rid of your Facebook page, because you can add the pixel. So you can actually track people from your website, you can potentially re target those people in both Instagram and Facebook ads, and you have to have a Facebook page in order to do any Instagram ads. So don't get rid of your Facebook, if you're just given up on it. Even if you don't have that many followers just keep it because it's always linked to your Instagram. Twitter is another platform that is kind of changed over time. I don't use it as much. But I do send a lot of my Instagram posts there. And it's a great way to, you know, reply to comments, it's a great way to get your business noticed. If people on there are, you know, there are really active Twitter users, I will say so if you are a small business, it wouldn't hurt to go on Twitter. And I think that's something that a lot of people are just like, well, I don't really want to do it. I always just say send your Instagram post there. And then LinkedIn. I've mentioned this many, many, many times lately. LinkedIn, by far has been one of my favorite platforms of the last six months, because they are so so so focused on content, you guys, like the video views, I get the post views I get are insane. Like better than I've ever done on Facebook. I just I just kind of add all these people and you know, their potential people that could work with us, you know, and it's just changed so much for the better. And I I'm loving LinkedIn right now. But all of these platforms, as well as Pinterest, which I didn't really mention, is so important for you getting your your business out there. by posting consistently on all these platforms, you can really build a sense of who is this person who is this business. And I just posted on our blog, a guide that tells you how if you just post on Instagram, how to send that post to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn instantly, and it's with a program how if this than that, and I honestly use this for all of our social, I've used it. Basically since we started twins, this collective, I've always sent our posts to all of those platforms, because I don't have time to post on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn every day, I don't. I also feel like all the things I would say are exactly what I'm saying on Instagram, Instagram is my main hub. So what I've done, and it's so visual, and everything has become so visual lately with photos, I just send my Instagram posts all of those. And I recommend to everyone, it's the easiest thing in the world to set up, you just have to set up your accounts, and then plug it in on if this and that. And I actually did it recently with some clients and it's just so easy. And and I teach you step by step in the blog post how to do it. But that's just something I recommend doing is getting your social setup. You know, if you're starting a business, that's so so important for getting visible to new audiences. Okay, email marketing. Email is something I hated for a while. But now I'm like in love with because I feel like being consistent has helped me kind of consolidate everything that's happened within a week and then send it out to promote not only our blog post, but also our podcast events coming up. I know I've gotten sales for for our events and workshops from the emails I've sent. And I think just getting in people's in boxes every week, you don't understand like how much that helps with people remembering your name, because on social, you might, somebody might follow you, but maybe they don't look at you enough. So they don't show up in their algorithm on their account. But when you're on someone's email list, they're forced to see you every time that they get an email, they might not click on your email, but for me just getting into their inbox is enough to kind of help them remember Oh, yeah, that twins this collective thing, I probably should look into that future, you know, or like remembering the name.

Okay, so the next way you can get your more visible is with social media ads, I mentioned this at the beginning, getting your Facebook account set up with a pixel and and embedding that on your website will help you in the long run. Even if you don't do ads right away. Just getting that set up allows you to start tracking and adding cookies to people so that I kind of have mentioned this in the podcast before retargeting people is so important because you don't understand like how valuable it is to target someone who's already been to your website versus a cold lead where they've never been to your website. Same with and the thing a lot of people don't realize is that if you do a Facebook ad, you can also click Send to Instagram, I had a client come in for an audit. And they're like, we don't understand why there's this post that isn't actually showing up on our account. But it's getting likes it but it's not showing it's not on our account. And what they didn't realize this was somebody in their company had set up a Facebook ad. And it was also sending it to Instagram. So it's not actually it was almost like a ghost post where they don't see it on their feed, but they're getting notifications that it's getting likes. And a lot of people are like, Whoa, I didn't realize that was also an Instagram. So you can do that as well, which is super, super helpful for promoting a specific thing on Instagram and Facebook, because they're so tied together. So paying for ads is obviously something you can do, especially when you're starting out. And you maybe don't have that many followers. And you just want some instant action for getting people to come to your event or buy your product or try out your store. Okay, so the next kind of Section after social media is search. So we've talked with the different bloggers and SEO specialist on the podcast. But having content that comes out either weekly or monthly or daily, on your website allows you to have better Google results which people are searching for things and you need to make sure that you are there when people are looking for your business if a content or your specific business. I wrote a blog post called 10 tips to start a blog in 2019. And I talked a lot about search and figuring out, okay, well what's the headline of my blog post because a lot of people write a blog. They want to start a business with it, but they're just writing what they love. And I always say write what you love, but make it so that it's easy to read and easy to search. So making sure that the the title of the post is something people are actually looking for and not just my trip to Paris, talk about you know, Paris vacation trip 2019 tips and tricks to packing for a month or something you know, like it's the same content, but the way that you word it and the way that you explain it is more searchable. So we also Yeah, we talked about I did it a co episode where on the podcast, which you should listen to because it's a really, really awesome one. And it teaches a lot about the power of search. So search engine market. And search engine optimization is so so powerful even in 2019 Pinterest, I mentioned this at the beginning Pinterest, I don't consider technically a social media platform, but it kind of is. But it's more of a search engine. We had Laura Reich on and she talked about how to use Pinterest and it blew my mind. It was really, really great episode and she actually did our our Pinterest workshop as well. And I know she does a lot of online courses and stuff. So if you're if you're making any type of video or photo content, you need to be on Pinterest because it's going to bring a lot more traffic to your website. And I think that you need to set it up to not only get people there but also convert them. So whether it's adding them to your email list, whether it's selling them a course or even offering your services. These are ways that you can actually grow your business. And I'm going to have a hopefully someone on in the future that talks about funnels, we've had a little bit about funnels, but I really want to talk more about funnels, and how to kind of funnel people in basically a marketing funnel, you just start with like leads and then you get all the way down to clients. And there's ways that you can do that.

This week's episode of the podcast is sponsored by Jill Grunewald of healthful elements. Do you know someone who struggles with hormonal imbalances or autoimmune conditions, especially Hashimoto, hypothyroidism and alopecia, which is autoimmune hair loss? Would you like to understand more about your thyroid and how it affects every function in your body? I'm so excited to introduce you to this one sponsor, functional medicine certified health coach Jill Grunwald. She's a prolific writer who has been featured in the Huffington Post and experienced Life magazine, and even quoted in Oprah's own magazine. She loves to help her clients learn more about their thyroid health, as millions of women are undiagnosed with hormonal issues that are often traced back to their thyroid. Jill isn't just a coach. She's also a hardcore scientist when it comes to health and nutrition. She has co authored the number one best selling essential thyroid cookbook, where you can see for yourself that she's a total nerd about nutritional science, as evidenced in the first third of the book. She's also suffered from alopecia on and off for 35 years, and eventually became one third bald in her early 40s. She now has her full head of hair back and has developed a program for those suffering with autoimmune hair loss, reversing alopecia, which is also the name of her new book, which will be published in the fall of 2020. Her clients and course participants say that she's one of the best sources of hope and healing for the alopecia community, through helping them learn to regrow their hair, if you want to find her cookbook, and more head to healthful elements calm and connect with Jill. Now back to the podcast.

Okay, YouTube, oh my gosh, YouTube is still such a powerful platform and 2019. I went to school for video. And I think that YouTube is a great example of how to actually use Google search with video in 2019. Also, there are Facebook videos and IG TV videos, we are launching our web series next month, logging out which is going to be us exploring the Twin Cities and we are for sure going to be on YouTube, I'm going to actually be converting my YouTube channel, which is it was just my my personal generate field channel into the Twin Cities collective channel, I will keep all the old posts but moving forward, I'm going to have it be more general posts about business and all that stuff. And that's going to be we're going to be hosting logging out. So I'm so excited about that. We're moving everything over to that account, because I have a lot more followers on there. And it just it's already kind of primed to be that. So YouTube is a great way if you're doing video content, or if you want to do video content, just to start uploading videos there to get better search results. But make sure they're quality videos. Don't just upload crap, because no one cares about that. podcasting, not only like launching a podcast, but also being a guest on one. I mean, people have gotten so much visibility on being on this podcast, I've gotten visibility being on other people's podcasts. This is like the the time of podcasting. So if you haven't reached out to someone and asked to be on a podcast, there are so many that are a lot smaller that just want people to be on sheep, if you're a woman, she podcast is a great group to join. Because it's on Facebook, there are always people looking for guests and just getting your name across to more people. And it's free for you. For the most part. I mean, you usually people don't pay to be on other people's podcast for the most part. So it's just reaching out and saying, hey, you have a podcast? Are you looking for a guest don't like assume they're going to pick you. I hate when people are like, Oh, I'm going to be a guest on your podcast. And I'm like, No, you're not, you know, it's like I I'm a kind of one that's very picky about who I have on the podcast. And I could tell away, you're just, you know, wanting too much from it. I kind of go based off of my, my selection of kind of what I want. We haven't talked about yet, you know, that kind of stuff. So I kind of have a plan with the podcast, personally. But we have a couple episodes about podcasting. If you want to listen to those if you I also have my Do It Yourself podcasting course. So if you want to start a podcast this year, make sure to check that out because that's a lot of information about starting a podcast. And we're an in at see America, and I might be doing some some classes and stuff soon. So I will be talking about that as well. Okay, search results, and search ads. So one of the things I haven't really talked about Google Ads too much, as well as YouTube Pinterest ads, I would love to have someone on the podcast to talk about those because I've never ever done a YouTube ad where basically you pay to be on other people's YouTube videos. You could be you could be the podcast ad, you could be the Pinterest ad, or you could be the Google ad. So basically, we always, I always think about ads in terms of Facebook, Instagram, but there are a lot of other platforms where you can become more visible by being the ad yourself. So Google ads, I think are probably the easiest way to start because they're a lot cheaper. And it's just text based. So basically, if someone's searching, say you start a new restaurant, and it's an Italian restaurant,

that you haven't gotten ranked on Google at all, because you just started, like you can basically pay for the Italian restaurant Google ad, and then people will click on it if they're searching Italian restaurant, Minneapolis, like you'll pop up because it's local. So there's ways to actually just pay to to get yourself basically the top of Google. And that's what Google ads are. So paying money for ads is something that people do, especially when they're either first starting or like years into the business when they have made a lot more money and can spend money on ads. I feel like somebody told me recently that if you, like, don't use ads consistently that they like, charge you more, I thought that was very interesting. So like, you have to be like paying monthly, otherwise, they'll, they'll they'll make it a lot harder for people to find you as well. So I think that's a little bit sketchy with Facebook, but I've never actually really paid for ads. So that's something that I don't really understand. And people come to me and they're like, Hey, can you help us with ads? I'm like, No, I don't do them. Um, but so the next thing I want to talk about is something that I, I recently got to do. And that's for the first time and some of you guys might have seen it, I was actually on TV, on the 20th live program, which is on Channel five. One of my goals for this year, if you listen to podcast consistently was to be on TV. And I finished that in February. So that was great. That was what my year goals. I want to obviously try to be on a few different shows, I would love if you know anyone at the Jason show, I would love to be on that one as well. But basically, I really liked it. I mean, I think I got more validation from my non social media friends, which I was a little bit surprised by the people that literally just saw Oh, just Jenna just does Instagram, she just, you know, like, I don't really get it. Once they saw that I was on TV, I feel like people took me more seriously, which I thought would happen. But I was surprised at how much it did a lot of my non social media friends were were like really excited for me. And for me, it was just kind of like a new thing I was trying. And I definitely got some new followers. But it was more about the the validation of the fact that, Oh, I'm worthy enough to be on TV like I, I feel like I have something to say something to teach. And the fact that all of my friends were able to watch me in a very traditional platform was very, very exciting. And it definitely like solidified and made me feel like, Oh, this is like a thing that's now been published by a major news network or, you know, so I think people have been kind of reaching out being like, how'd you get on TV, I mean, really just connecting with the producers connecting with the team there. They're always looking for segments, I mean, just pitching them a little bit or just reaching out, they might not pick you right away. And I'm not sure what their criteria is. But just, they didn't reach out to me, I reached out to them. And I think that a lot of people just assume that I was just asked to be on TV. And I was like, No, I actually put it out there and said, Hey, I would love to be on your show. And I think that if you have a really interesting product or idea. And it's something that will connect with their viewers, it's a great way to be more visible in your business. Okay, the newspaper, I've never been in the newspaper for my business. But it's another goal of mine this year is to whether it's like a local paper or a larger paper. I know like a lot of people, my parents age love to read the paper still. And that is something that my mom always cut out articles for me and shows me things that are a way to get more exposure. So if you haven't, you know, connected on LinkedIn to all these traditional media platforms, like start reaching out to, you know, the people that write for the Star Tribune, or That's right, for the Pioneer Press, follow them on Twitter Follow, follow the people that are the ones making the decisions, the producers, the people that are actually looking for you, they're looking for stories. So that's a really, really easy way to kind of just get some new business and get some new eyes on your business magazines, there's a lot of local magazines, Twin Cities, business, that kind of stuff. Just you know, yeah, just like following them. And like knowing what they're talking about, and maybe even pitching them, you know, saying, Hey, I would love to, you know, talk with you tell you about my business, that's a really easy way. I know, there's a lot of people looking for different things to feature. And I know that that a lot of small business around here, the ones that are doing really well, I always see them in the paper, I see them in the newspaper, in the magazines, in my thing, they're doing a really good job on their PR. One thing I want to say about PR as well. I don't have a PR person, I'm my own PR person and most businesses, they are doing that

for themselves. And I think that that's the best way to do it in 2019 is to understand what a media kit is, understand what a press release is and understand how to pitch yourself in a way that doesn't come across as Oh, I'm just sending this to 800 million people and you're just one of them make it super custom use Instagram to reach out directly to people. That's how I did the twins is live as I just reached out directly on Instagram. There's just so many different ways that you can be your own PR person in 2019. So finally, radio, and sometimes people are able to be interviewed on the radio, you can also pay to be a radio ad. I know like what a seven one is great one a lot of people I've heard about have been on the radio in terms of ads, as well as TV ads. So there's just a lot of ways in the traditional media that a lot of people are still watching. I mean, so I'm always the biggest proponent of social but honestly, traditional media has its place. And I think that there's a lot more people on there as well that you might not be reaching on social. So traditional media, that's kind of my list of those places that you can check out billboards, I mean, that's the thing. I'm never I never really a proponent for billboards personally just because there's a lot better ways to track on digital for the money. Um, okay, so in person. This is where the twins this collective comes in. First one is networking events, we have a resource on our website with a like a networking group directory. So if you're ever looking for like a new event to try out, there are like Chamber of Commerce's there are different networking groups for every type of business. There's creative groups, there's blogger groups, there's, you know, fitness professional groups, there's literally everything that you can think of, there's probably one on meetup or on Facebook that you can join, that has events where you can go and network and I think that we had a podcast episode about networking, which I should recommend you listening to. But it's all about just going maybe bring a friend sometimes it's easier with someone to just go in and then just the two of you walk up to someone and say, Hey, how's it going? And what do you do? It's easier once you just walk up to someone and start talking then just walking around. I went to a networking event last week and I I felt kind of out of place. I felt like I didn't know who to talk to. It was it was a weird feeling. And I kind of forgotten how that went. And I I was a little bit I did meet some awesome people. But I felt like it was awkward to go up to sometimes two people and just say, Hey, how's it going, but that's kind of why people are there. So I just need I think I was out of practice for that one. One on one. Coffee dates are super great. I did this a lot with people on LinkedIn. But usually I don't take coffee dates anymore. If it's someone who's I don't consider a peer. And I know this is probably a weird thing. But usually people that are coming to me and they're at a much beginner level than I am are just wanting information. So then I usually set up a consultation, but when it's someone who I feel like I could potentially work with, then I usually do a coffee date. And that's changed over time. But if you're just starting out, find someone else who's just starting out or find someone who maybe could be a few steps ahead of you and could be somewhat of a mentor. I remember when I first started out I had a lot of coffee dates with people. And it was just a great way to just meet people. And I'm totally open to that, um, it's just hard with sometimes timing. All right, collaboration. This is more for social media. So if you're like, wanting to promote something, they bring someone else into it and share it with their audience to we we have Kylie on the panel. And she talks about doing collaborations and doing things for trade and, and kind of just sharing the wealth of resources. I think it's such a great way that social media has shifted to helping each other the community over competition, I think that's a great way to get yourself seen is by being on other people's social and being in front of their their audience. Alright, the very last way is influencer marketing. So we've talked about this before on the podcast, we've had, I wrote a blog post called 10 tips before working with an influencer.

But if you are trying to get your business out there, one of the things you can do is pay an influencer to promote and talk about it. Now this is a very, very complicated thing. And it's not gotten easier in 2019, there are even more legal things that have come about, I think pricing has gone up. So it's a little bit harder now to work with influencers as a very, very, very small startup business. But I think even working with micro influencers where they have under 10,000 followers is a great, great way. I had a Jenny on the podcast a couple of weeks ago, she doesn't have 10,000 followers, but her engagement rate is insane. You guys like I got so many clicks from her episode, because she's so well connected in the Twin Cities. And she promoted our podcast, and I couldn't believe it, I got more clicks and, you know, followers and stuff from her post that I did someone who had, you know, a lot more followers. So I think it really it makes a difference how engage the audience is, it doesn't always matter, the follower number, it's more about how many followers are actually willing to do something with what they're told, you know, whether it's go listen to my podcast, if if if you have 6000 7000 followers and 3000 of those, you know, go and listen versus someone who has 100,000. And only 10 people do it, it's like there's a difference, more in the engagement rate and how engage your audiences versus the overall numbers. Because a lot of people just pay based off of that big number, the hundred thousand or whatever. But it's really, really, really more about the number of people that are willing to actually be involved with your brand. So that's just the biggest tip I have. So my question to listen, listeners, what is your goal for 2019? What is a new platform that you're going to try out? This is my challenge. If you're listening to this right now on your phone, I want you to screenshot this episode, I want you to post it to your story, tag us and write what your goal is. And I will repost it on our Instagram because I want to see what your goal is. Because being visible is something that you have to put out there into the world, you cannot just wait for people to find you, you have to put yourself out there. And you have to be the one to say hey, look at me. I know in Minnesota, it's harder and harder and harder to be just because we have such a very meek pass kind of culture to stand out is like everyone to everyone looks at you when you when you stand out. And I think by harnessing that you have such a potential to actually get people interested. And I feel like that has been really true for me. So thank you guys so much for listening. I hope that you guys check out our website, we've been doing a lot of updates. We have a freebie library where I just updated our hashtag guide, I updated the we added a local tagging guide. And we just have a lot of new services and the directories been updated. Everything is updated. So make sure to head over to Twin Cities collective calm to see all the updates. And I'll talk to you guys next week. Bye.

Thanks for listening to the Twin Cities collective podcast with Jenna Redfield. Make sure to click subscribe if you haven't already. And make sure to leave us a review on iTunes. Thanks again for Ian at Studio Americana for producing this episode, as well as Melanie Lee for designing the podcast art. And thanks to Nicole I had less for the use of the song in the intro intro. Thanks so much again and I'll see you next time.